LDS Update

Meet Elder Juan Pablo Villar: Committed to Divine Direction

As a new General Authority Seventy, Elder Juan Pablo Villar can point to three life-shaping experiences in his first year after becoming acquainted with the Church—a witness of the Book of Mormon, a confirmation that God knows each individual, and the importance of a simple, heartfelt testimony.

For a soon-to-be-17-year-old in Santiago, Chile, that first contact came from learning his older brother Ivan had joined the Church without his parents’ approval and was preparing for a mission. Ivan’s explanation to his family—including his testimony and his desire to serve—had an impact on his younger brother.

“I didn’t understand all the meaning of that,” recalled Elder Villar. “But at that moment, he put a seed in my heart.”

That seed grew when his missionary brother gave his name as a referral. Introduced to the Book of Mormon by the sister missionaries who contacted him, Elder Villar received a prompt testimony of its truthfulness.

“For myself, it was not necessary to kneel down and pray, because the moment they shared their testimony, I knew in my heart it was true,” he said. “When I knew that, everything else had to be true.”

And an early concern also was resolved. “I sometimes wondered if my Father knew if I was here on the earth,” he recalled. “And when I received the missionaries in my home, I received the confirmation that He knows—He knows me. And He wants me to be His servant, His disciple.”